(Sandy) Alex G – Sportstar

A simple piano melody fades in, repeats, and then vocals ripple over top. There is a wash in between, the moment where water begins to cover sand. It’s one of those partly cloudy beach days when senses are just beginning to feel the looming presence of summer. “Sportstar” by (Sandy) Alex G is full of potential and energy builds as wave after wave of sound is added to the track.

There is a sense of awakening within “Sportstar”, one where positive possibilities hang in the future like stars waiting for dusk to leave. The song lives on its own terms, “I play how I wanna play / I say what I wanna say,” Alex G repeats through the middle. But it’s the listener who has to see the promise within it. It’s almost as if the track is gently asking you to open your eyes to wonder, and then repeating it with slowly growing force.

Almost every piece of the song is distorted, from the guitar that picks in after the first few moment and grows to a distant rage across the track to the simple, yet revealing vocals. There is, however, an easily discernible hunger lurking within the track. Like a new day, Alex G vaguely discusses desire, “Sport star / If you want me I’ll call / If you want me to fall / I’ll fall,” and if those what will happen if those wishes ever come to fruition, “Driving on my white throne / 95 to sport star / If I make it back on / I don’t wanna live long / Just strong.” That sense of yearning can be felt throughout the track.

The beauty of potential and possibilities is what makes “Sportstar” glow even in breaking or fading light. Within its three minutes and 51 seconds there is the potential for anything, and like any dream it could shatter even from the lightest touch.